


The Night Crackled With Magic

by daasvedanya



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-07
Updated: 2012-03-07
Packaged: 2017-11-01 14:49:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daasvedanya/pseuds/daasvedanya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her blade was brought out once more and the fear was washed away because she knew she was going to survive. She called over her shoulder, “Keep up, Rumpelstiltskin!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Night Crackled With Magic

She licked the blade clean of blood as she stalked towards him; a predator and her prey. He could do nothing but continue to point his pistol at her, his hand visibly shaking. Time seemed to slow down, each of her steps deliberate. She knew he wouldn’t make the first move. He wanted to  _save_  her. She wanted to laugh. So she did, harsh and biting.

“The Dark One, so great and powerful, reduced to  _this_?” She paused and pressed her finger to the tip of the blade. “Scared, Rumpelstiltskin?”

“Oh, you’ve always frightened me, dearie.”

 

 

_She wielded the blade deftly and when she slit the throat of the shadow of evil, her eyes lit up. This was his Belle. His Belle, who placed a foot atop her prey’s chest in triumph. His Belle, who embraced the adrenaline of war like it was where she belonged. It terrified him, and excited him. With a snap of his fingers, magic weaved throughout the night and he did his own in this battle. He could not keep his eyes off of her for long. Partly he wanted to make sure she was still there, but mostly his gaze admired her. He looked at her in awe and when she ran towards him with a flushed face and a thrilling smile, he felt his heart race, or stop, he couldn’t tell._

 

She began to meander through the splits in the ground. The night crackled with magic. Storybrooke was engulfed in chaos but they were in a world of their own. Her floral dress fluttered around her knees, smeared in blood and dirt. She was barefoot, but continued walking unflinchingly. Her hair was a mass of chestnut tangles. And her eyes – they were electric.

She was close enough now to see the fear etched into the lines of his face. He looked so much older. He would make Death a fine companion. “You’re not going to survive this battle.” She stared down the barrel of the gun like an old friend.

“I knew that from the start.”  _Neither will you_. The words hung, unspoken, between them.

 

 

_She slipped her hand into his and tucked herself into his side where she belonged. They fit so seamlessly together. He could feel the race of her pulse, hear her short breaths, and see how she brushed her hair back, preparing herself for the next melee. He had no intention of losing this battle. They were going to survive this, together. His brave, brave girl would make sure of that more than he would._

_When she turned to look up at him, he felt his breath catch. She tugged on his arm and laughed. “Come on, Rumpelstiltskin.”_

_“Come where?”_

 

Time stopped and Gold remembered. He remembered finding her again, remembered her smile as she made him breakfast and the way it made his heart flutter, remembered the curve of her hip beneath his palm. He remembered how she was taken away from him again. But this time, it hadn’t been his fault.

This is what had become of them. And he regretted it. He had always regretted it. He wanted to apologize now but he knew the words would be hollow. He had done everything in his power to fix what he had broken but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. Now, they would both pay the consequences. Everyone would.

Belle sauntered another stop forward until the tip of her blade was pressed lightly into his stomach. She wrapped her other hand around his tie and ghosted her lips over his. She reveled in the way he shivered at her touch. Still, after all this time.

“You never imagined I would be the one to kill you.”

“No, you were once the one who saved me.”

He didn’t know if it was tricks in the air but he saw tears well up in her eyes for the briefest of moments until she tightened her grip on his tie and tugged. The flash on her face had disappeared without a trace. “You could never be saved.”

 

 

_Her heart thundered in her chest, as if it were to burst at any moment. They were in the middle of battle, perhaps the greatest of their lives and it took all of her will to not stay tucked into his side for all eternity. She settled for a kiss instead. She was not shy when she kissed him, cupping his cheek with her free hand and pressing herself close to him. She put every ounce of her soul and passion and love into that kiss, as it was their last. But, of course, it was not._

_“To get our happy ending.” Her smile alone made everything worth it. With a shriek of excitement, she quickly untangled herself from his arm and was darting through the debris and chaos of war. Her blade was brought out once more and the fear was washed away because she knew she was going to survive. She called over her shoulder, “Keep up, Rumpelstiltskin!”_

_And he followed her, as he now knew, he always would._

 

When she thrust the blade into this stomach, he felt a searing pain and warmth that began to spread. He continued to stand, despite the ground looking particularly inviting in this moment. Her free arm had wrapped itself around his lower back while her other gripped the handle of the blade tightly and slowly turned it. She grinned at his groan and the way he grit his teeth. Her fingers left the blade to sit there comfortably while she danced them to his shirt. She lightly brushed them along the growing blood stain. She rubbed her cheek against his and licked the lobe of his ear. “You’re a coward, Rumpelstiltskin,” she hissed.

He smiled, then, because it was true. And because tonight was the night he would finally make amends for that. She pulled away and held him up by the blade for as long as she could but his knees were buckling fast. “Death is a kindness.”

He nodded his agreement and as he collapsed to the ground, he performed his final act, no longer a coward. He pulled the trigger. 


End file.
